Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Buys 497 Shares of Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:AFL) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 53,085 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Aflac were worth $4,380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Aflac by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,643,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $740,141,000 after purchasing an additional 794,784 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Aflac during the third quarter worth approximately $47,492,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Aflac by 1.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,208,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,160,465,000 after buying an additional 605,210 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Aflac by 8,861.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 449,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,113,000 after buying an additional 444,829 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Aflac by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,295,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $559,953,000 after acquiring an additional 368,704 shares during the period. 67.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on AFL. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Aflac from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Aflac from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Aflac from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.15.

Aflac Price Performance

AFL stock opened at $83.52 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $82.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.64. The firm has a market cap of $48.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 0.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Aflac Incorporated has a 12 month low of $64.10 and a 12 month high of $86.26.

Aflac (NYSE:AFL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by ($0.22). Aflac had a net margin of 24.92% and a return on equity of 17.59%. The firm had revenue of $3.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.44 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Aflac Incorporated will post 6.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Aflac

In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,516,390.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Thomas J. Kenny sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.62, for a total value of $423,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,390.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Albert Riggieri sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.34, for a total transaction of $666,720.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 32,825 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,735,635.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 46,493 shares of company stock valued at $3,765,706. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Aflac Company Profile

Aflac Incorporated, through its subsidiaries, provides supplemental health and life insurance products. The company operates through Aflac Japan and Aflac U.S. segments. The Aflac Japan segment offers cancer, medical, nursing care, work leave, GIFT, and whole and term life insurance products, as well as WAYS and child endowment plans under saving type insurance products in Japan.